


The Darkness in Light

by Renata Lord (snowlight)



Category: Marvel (Comics), Thor (2011)
Genre: Angst, Greek Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-07
Updated: 2012-02-06
Packaged: 2017-10-30 17:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/334414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowlight/pseuds/Renata%20Lord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki dies (a la Marvel's Siege storyline). Thor goes to Niflheim to retrieve him. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice retold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He had passed through seven dark-iron gates and crossed seven frozen rivers, descending from golden Asgard into this ever-gloom realm. At each turn the cursed hellhounds trailed his steed, some leaping so close he could feel their fetid breathes of death on his neck. But Thor’s mind was occupied with a single thought, a singular hope that was burning away all the decay in Hela’s land like a hungering spark.

“Father, watch over me.”

Thor had been the undisputed King of Asgard for ten years, and he had proven himself to be a worthy ruler: He had forged a difficult peace with the remaining Ice Giants, defended Midgard at every turn from every peril, and restored order to Asgard after the chaos of the shattering war. Yet here and now, he longed for the sleeping Allfather’s blessing.

It was a son’s prayer.

He did not know what truly awaited him in the heart of the Niflheim. It was only a terrible hope that he harbored--terrible if it was true, and still more so if it came to naught. In the past ten years he had repeatedly tasted the bitterness of disappointed hopes, from Midgard to Svartalfheim. Yet when the crows carried the whispers of the dead to his throne, that spark flared up once more and all he could feel was the burn.

That Loki was here, a god in the Land of the Never-Return...

The crows said no more after that, but Thor already knew what he had to do. He summoned Heimdall and asked if the Gatekeeper would swear that he could see every corner of Niflheim, and that Loki was nowhere to be found amongst the dead.

“I see through the mist and darkness of Niflheim, my King; but there is a place where even my eyes reach not: the House of Hela, from which none may ever return; not even Asa Thor, the King of the Gods.”

What the Gatekeeper would not say outright, the Warrior Three voiced for him. Fandral surmised that the winds merely mirrored his wishful thinking. Hogun believed this was a trap from Hela. Volstagg dismissed the crows and threatened to roast them a stick. As for Sif--Sif only said “if you must go, my King, take us with you.”

Of his friends, she always knew him best.

Yet Thor had come alone in the end, passing through seven dark-iron gates and crossing seven frozen rivers. He could not place his friends in danger, nor deprive Asgard of his deputies in her King’s absence. Above all, he knew this journey was meant for none but himself.

This was Loki. This was his brother.

This was his.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hail, Thunderer.”

In front of the palace stood a girl-child with a dainty but serious face, her slender figure clad in a long green tunic. As Thor dismounted with Mjolnir in hand she looked up at him, without pity and without fear.

“I see that Garm and his brood have been kind to you. I am Leah, the Queen’s handmaiden.”

“I will speak with your Queen.”

“She is expecting you.”

The girl turned to walk away without motioning for him to follow. For a moment, hesitation raised its head in Thor’s mind at last: Hela knew he was coming, she was prepared for it. Yet what did she prepare for _him_? He remembered Hogun’s words.

\--Remembered Hogun’s words and pressed on, letting that shade of green guide him through the weary arches and wasted corners of Hela’s House. At every step, Thor searched for signs of Loki and found none. Surely Loki did not belong here--Loki, who was full of mischief and energy, who dreamed of fire and flood. Yet Loki had to be here. Thor needed his brother to be here so that the spark in his heart would not devour him whole.

The high throne of Niflheim was made of glistening white bones. On top of it sat Hela, whose visage bore such a resemblance to the shadow in Thor’s own dreams that it was almost hateful to look at. But she was dressed in a flowing green robe, too, the vivid green that no one in Asgard would now wear because of a lost prince. 

“I come for Loki.”

Hela laughed. It was a jagged, cheerless sound.

“Asa Thor, this is not your realm but mine. My words and my words alone have the power.” She fixed those green eyes upon him and Thor felt a coldness seeping into his bones, crawling like old age and disease.

“I come for Loki,” said Thor again. This time it was not a demand. “He is my brother, a son in the House of Odin. He belongs in Asgard, and he belongs with me.”

The bones in Hela’s throne rattled ominously as the Queen laughed again. “Do you truly believe in such foolishness?” she asked at last, when the echoes had subsided. “Thunderer, I had thought you changed. Your flesh is not his flesh. Your blood is not his blood. As Asgard had forsaken him, he in turn had forsaken Asgard. You have no claim on Loki Laufeyson.”

“Whatever the history, whatever is to come, he is my brother,” Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. “The Sun may trade place with the Moon, the river Elivagar may breath fire instead of ice, but even then that bond shall not be broken.”

The Queen fell silent, and Thor felt that spark seething within his chest anew. Loki was here, he knew it now. Loki was here, and Thor would leave with him. They would go back to Asgard together, and whatever wounds Loki had sustained, he would heal them. There was no other possibility, no other way.

Hela raised one hand, and the green sleeves fell back to reveal her skeletal fingers. “I shall allow you to leave with Loki, O King of Asgard. Be not grateful, for I only do so to bring you regret and sorrow.

“Go behind me into the Ever-North, the only path leading away from my House. Your steed will be waiting for you at the end, but until then you must climb on foot. The one you seek shall be three steps behind you, but Asa Thor, never turn back to look at him until you quit yourselves completely of Niflheim. Until then, one look, one glimpse, one stolen glance of his hands or feet--that will be the renunciation of your claim on Loki forever, and I shall keep him here for perpetuity.”

Thor had expected her to ask for the Sun and the Moon, had been prepared to free Loki by treaty or force. Regret and sorrow, in turn, looked so small as nothing for a price. Had he not already known them well enough in these years past? He had become his own king, but in the moments when he was not King but a son of Odin, his thoughts invariably led him to Loki. 

In the end, it was always Loki.

**Author's Note:**

> For Diana does not free chaste Hippolytus from the shadows, and Theseus is not strong enough to break the chains of Lethe from his dear Pirithous. - Horace, Ode 4.7


End file.
